


The Haunting of Overland House

by adelaide_rain



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Ghost Sex, Hot dad Koz, M/M, Modern AU, Snarky ghost Jack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-20
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-01-02 03:10:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1051828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adelaide_rain/pseuds/adelaide_rain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Koz and his daughter have moved into a loft in a small town in Virginia. It’s spacious and it has a great view over the lake, but they didn’t realise that a ghost called Jack came with it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It started with his daughter making an imaginary friend.

"Who are you talking to?" He asked her, and she'd pointed at empty air.

"Jack - he's my friend." A whisper of concern was instantly forgotten in the warmth of her smile. Seraphina's smile is enough to make Koz forget everything.

Besides, having just moved from New York to small town Virginia to be nearer her mother - and step-father, Koz thinks with a frown - has been a big upheaval in her life. It makes sense that she'd make up someone to help her with that.

He thinks little more of it until his first visit to the local coffee shop, laptop in hand. Small talk with the barista turns into bullet point life history, and the barista's eyes widen.

"Whoa, you're in the loft of the old Overland place? You seen the ghost yet?"

Koz's eyebrow quirks. "Ghost?"

"Yeah, it's famous for being haunted. Some Overland kid drowned in the lake a couple centuries back. Apparently he never left."

Local superstitious nonsense but if he's ever desperate for an article it might be worth looking into. He makes a note and moves on.

A couple of weeks into the move, he checks on Seraphina and he could have SWORN he saw the tiny plastic cup of her tea set float in midair, before clattering down to the table. But there's her pretty smile again and it's mostly forgotten.

Until the notes start appearing on his desk, usually scrawled in crayon.

HI and LET'S HAVE A LITTLE FUN and I SAW YOU IN THE SHOWER, NICE ASS .

He complained to the landlord who obviously thought he was a lunatic and told him maybe his daughter had written them. It was all he could do not to punch the guy in the face. As if Seraphina would write things like that. As if she _could_ \- she's only bloody four.

"Maybe it's the ghost," Karen suggests when Koz mentions it to her over coffee. He blinks at her and gestures to her coffee cup.

"Have you got rum in there? A lot of rum?"

She rolls her eyes. "You know me better than that. And I told you before you moved in that it's haunted. When I was a kid we used to sneak in there at Halloween."

"Oh, so we have that to look forward to. Why didn't you tell me I was moving into a delinquent hangout?"

"It was abandoned back then; no-one's going to go there now. And I _did_ tell you about the ghost."

It's possible. For the past six months, relations between Koz and his ex-wife have been somewhat strained. Her moving up here with her new husband and leaving him with little choice but to follow for Seraphina's sake was not the best thing that's ever happened in his life. He tends to be full of raging thoughts during most of their meet ups.

"And did you ever see this ghost?"

"No," Karen says with a shrug. "But-"

"Then there isn't one."

She narrows her eyes. "And you've never seen Australia but I'm pretty sure it's there."

He doesn't bother deigning that with a response.

The next day he sets his webcam recording before taking a walk in the woods. He returns there's another note: I'M NOT VERY PHOTOGENIC.

Koz plays the video. He plays it again. He plays it a third time and still doesn't believe it.

The crayon is writing by itself.

Whoever is doing this must be skilled in video editing, or special effects, or- or _something_.

He gives in and goes to the local ghost hunter group and shows them the video. They get overexcited and talk about investigations and EMF readers and EVP, until he flatly says that he will not be letting them in his loft.

He still doesn’t believe in ghosts, but when he gets home there’s a crayon drawing of a dick on the wall and he didn’t draw it and Seraphina sure as hell didn’t draw it, and-

"That is _not appropriate_ ," he says to the empty room, feeling ridiculous. "Whatever you are, just stop.”

“Jack,” says a voice that belongs to no-one, or at least no-one that Koz can see, and suddenly he’s so cold. “My name’s Jack.”

For a long moment, Koz doesn't move. He doesn't know what to do. Saying something like 'I don't believe I ghosts' seems a little foolish since one is talking to him.

A sudden touch of cold on his neck, like someone's put an icicle against his skin, makes him jerk away and he looks around wildly.

"What do you want?"

"I just wanna have fun. Sera likes having fun with me."

"You're her imaginary friend," Koz says weakly.

"Not imaginary. Not even invisible, not to her anyway."

She doesn't seem to mind him, and he's helped her acclimatise to their new home. But-

There are so many things that could follow that 'but'.

But Koz doesn't believe in ghosts.

But ghosts are a bad thing, aren't they?

But this whole thing is _ridiculous_.

The cold touch again, and this time Koz doesn't jerk away. It feels- strange. Like soft but icy fingers. Sort of nice.

"You're a good dad to her. She really loves you. I'm kinda jealous to be honest. My own dad died when I was younger than she is."

"Please don't tell me I have a ghost looking for a surrogate father."

Jack laughs, deep and slightly throaty and _good god_ Koz's dick can't be twitching into hardness at that. "It's not a father I'm looking for," Jack says, both cold hands sliding from Koz's neck down to his nipples, squeezing slightly. His body is pressed against Koz's back and just for a moment, when Koz closes his eyes, it feels good and he wants more.

And then when he opens them again and can't see the hands sliding under his shirt, his panic spikes.

"Stop!"

Jack pauses and pulls away. Koz's skin instantly misses Jack's cold touch.

"I'm sorry," Jack murmurs. "I just... Like I said, I've seen you in the shower and -"

"But you're a ghost!"

Their conversation is interrupted by the doorbell - Karen bringing Seraphina back after dinner.

Koz turns, but even though he can't see him he knows Jack is gone and feels guilty for his overreaction.

The next day he starts reading about the history of Overland House.

Built on the site that the family has  lived on since the days of the pilgrims, the house was built after Merryweather Overland struck rich after finding gold in the nineteenth century.

Most of the websites are more interested in Merryweather Overland than his poorer ancestors, but finally one of them mentions Jack. Jackson Overland, died saving his sister when they went skating on thin ice. He drowned and they never found the body.

Merryweather had paid tribute to his bravery with a portrait, which there's a grainy picture of. Brown hair and eyes, a crooked smile, an air of mischief.

"Considering I'd been dead for a hundred and fifty years it's not a bad likeness."

Koz glances to the left, the source of both the voice and the chill in the air.

"Could he see you, when he was a child?"

"Yeah," Jack says. "Though he did what everyone does, explained it away when he was older. Still, at least he remembered what I looked like." He chuckles and Koz feels a cold touch against his arm. "I was pretty cute, huh?"

"You were," Koz says softly. "But why are you here? Is there no- Aren't you supposed to go into the light, or...?"

"If there is such a thing, I've not seen it. It's not so bad. Kids see me, we have fun, I look after them. It always hurts when they can't see me any more though."

"But they can hear you, surely."

"Nope. Most adults can't. I guess you're just sensitive."

Koz's lips thin. "If you're trying to suggest I'm some kind of psychic, you're mistaken. I've never heard a ghost in my life, until you."

"Then I guess that makes me special, huh?"

Koz blinks. He supposes it does.

They talk every day after that. Koz watches Seraphina play with him, and slowly becomes less uncomfortable about the toys moving on their own.

One day, as they're re-enacting the epic battle of GI Joe versus Rupert the plush unicorn, he even finds himself joining in. He picks up a Captain America figure that's missing an arm, and Seraphina says he's GI Joe's boyfriend.

They battle ends in a truce - they need to rest before working together in an upcoming battle against Megatron.

When Karen comes to pick Seraphina up for the weekend, Sera gives hugs to Koz and Jack both.

And then they're alone.

Koz gets himself a glass of wine and sits on the sofa, laptop on the coffee table.

"Can we watch the next episode of _Archer?"_ Jack asks, and the sofa dips under his unseen weight.

Though Koz plays the episode, he pays it little attention. All he can think of is the cold leg against his own, the sharp scent of winter that follows Jack around.

When the wine is gone and the episode is done, he gets more wine. If he's going to act on his half-formed plans he'll need more alcohol. He puts on another episode to give himself time to think, and when it comes to an end, his decision is made. He lets his hand drop to the sofa and seeks out Jack's, cool and slim.

"Koz?"

Koz doesn't speak. Instead he follows it up a up a slim arm clad in thin fabric, up a cold, slender neck.

If he closes his eyes, it's not so strange; Jack feels solid and real, his skin is smooth and his hair lightly spiked. His searching fingers find a waistcoat over a shirt. Belt on trousers that feel well-worn.

"If you keep that up you're going to give me the wrong idea," Jack says, slightly breathy.

Koz's common sense is screaming at him but he ignores it. Instead he goes to get a tie and after sitting again, he wraps it around his head like a blindfold.

"Koz?" Jack sounds uncertain and then he laughs again. "Or should that be _Kozmotis-?_ "

"Koz is fine," he says, finding Jack's hand again and pulling him close. "On my lap."

There's a pause and then a weight in Koz's lap, on either side of his thighs where Jack is straddling him. It's cold even through his trousers, strange but not uncomfortable.

"You're okay with this?" Jack asks. "That first time I tried to touch you-"

"What can I say, being felt up by a ghost for the first time was a bit of a shock."

He laughs and Koz can feel the rumble of it where his hands rest on Jack's chest.

"So it makes it easier if you can't see that you can't see me?"

"It does," Koz says, and slides his hands up to Jack's neck and pulls him forward for a kiss.

His lips are soft but cold, and this time Jack's the one who's hesitant.

"Is everything alright?"

"It's just... I don't have a lot of experience in this, you know? It's been three hundred years but there's only been a few people that even acknowledge that I exist, other than kids. And the people who've wanted to kiss me... Yeah, even less."

"Then that's their loss," Koz says, and kisses Jack gently. An undertone of weirdness still suffuses this whole situation, but with the blindfold it's an acceptable level. He kisses Jack again, soft, slow, letting Jack get used to it. Jack shifts his weight so that he's pressed close against Koz and his arms slide around Koz's neck. The change in position presses their hips together, and Koz can feel Jack's hardness pressed against him. He hmms his approval and slides a hand down Jack's back, tugging his shirt from his trousers so that he can slip a hand under, feeling the slim waist and tracing his fingers up Jack's spine.

Jack moans and Koz smiles, nipping at Jack's bottom lip and pressing his tongue into Jack's mouth. Another moan and Jack's fingers curl in Koz's hair, tugging lightly.

"Is that good, Jack?"

"Yeah," he breathes. "It's good."

As he licks into Jack's mouth, his hands continue tugging Jack's shirt from his trousers and unbuttoning it. He runs his hands down cold skin, finding nipples and squeezing them. Jack's body jerks against him, pressing their cocks together, and both of them gasp.

"So how is this going to work? You can come, can't you?" It's possibly the strangest question that Koz has ever had to ask, but then this is the strangest situation he's ever been in.

"Sure I can," Jack says, voice deep and ever so slightly wrecked. "But I- I don't know- Anything really."

"Considering your actions the first time you touched me, I would never have known. You're very forward for someone who doesn't know what they're doing."

"Maybe I figured you could teach me."

"Maybe I can." Koz smirks and grabs Jack's hips, grinding their cocks together through their trousers. The noise Jack makes is divine. "I think," he says, circling his hips up again, "That tonight I would like to teach you about blow jobs."

"...okay," is all Jack says, though the desire in his voice makes Koz's cock ache.

"Then stand," Koz says, keeping hold of Jack's wrist so that he can keep track of him.

Another kiss, and then Koz drops to his knees.


	2. Chapter 2

The floor is hard beneath Koz's knees and Jack is a cold spot in front of him. 

His hands reach for Jack, feeling the change in textures from skin to cotton shirt to leather belt. His fingers linger there, resting on the cold metal of the buckle. Jack's breath comes quickly; the only other sound Koz's own breath and the faint whirring of the laptop fan. 

Koz pauses, feeling the desire unfurl inside him, bucking against his hesitation. Part of him, incredulous, wonders if he's really going to do this. Another part – a stronger part – thinks _of course I am_. 

Koz unbuckles the belt, drops it to the floor, and smiles at the hitch in Jack's breath. 

“Top off,” he commands as he undoes Jack's trousers and slides them down his legs. There's a soft sound that must be Jack's shirt and waistcoat hitting the floor. He's eager, Koz thinks, as Jack steps out of his trousers. Excellent. 

There's no underwear, and Koz's slight knowledge of pilgrim fashions does not include whether or not going commando was the norm. In any case, he's glad of the easy access. He suppresses the urge to reach for Jack's cock straight away, and takes his time exploring. Hands find Jack's slim waist and slide up, finding already-pert nipples. Thumbing them makes Jack whine, and Koz grins. 

“Does that feel good, Jack?”

“Yes,” Jack hisses, and it becomes a moan as Koz squeezes them gently. 

“Has anyone ever done this to you?”

“N-no.”

Koz _hmm_ s and continues to play with Jack's nipples – those noises are far too delicious to stop – as he thinks. Three hundred years, and Jack's never experienced this. The thought – the reminder – of who and what Jack is, makes Koz waver, but he pushes the doubt aside. “So have you ever done _anything_ like this?”

“A – a few times. There's another ghost at the edge of town, we've – done some stuff. Um.”

“And do you like _stuff_?”

“Uh-huh.”

Koz grins. “If words are failing you already, just you wait.”

“I don't want to wait, so get _on_ with it.”

Well. If Jack's going to be like _that_...

Sliding his hands away from Jack's nipples makes him give a disappointed moan, but Koz wants to explore. With the cold skin under his fingers, it's almost like he's feeling up a marble statue. The thought isn't as off-putting as it probably should be. Maybe it's the softness of his skin, the slight give when he presses down. Despite the temperature this is a – well, not _living_ being, but this is a real person that he's touching, a real person that wants him, and despite the weirdness, despite everything, Koz wants Jack too. 

The other stuff, the weird stuff – that can be thought about when Koz doesn't have a hard on, when he doesn't have a naked Jack in front of him, because that? That's a pretty huge distraction. 

Continuing to explore, he feels hard, lean muscle under Jack's skin; feels the shape of his ribs, the sharp angles of his hipbones. Koz's searching fingers find a jagged scar on his stomach, a smoother one over his ribs. His fuzzy mental image of Jack sharpens, gains substance. A slim body; somewhat short. Long limbs, long fingers. Soft skin – sensitive, too, Koz thinks as he scrapes his nails down Jack's sides and gets a yelp in response. Put that together with the painting he saw online – the brown-haired, brown-eyed boy with a crooked grin, and Koz almost feels like he's seen Jack. 

And he likes what he sees. 

Deciding that there's been more than enough teasing, Koz slides his hands to Jack's stomach and finds the trail of coarse hair that starts just below his belly button. Slowly he follows the trail downward, grinning as Jack's breath quickens. 

As he gets to Jack's cock, he shivers. It's so cold, where it should be so hot; but instead of finding it strange, it makes his own cock throb. Casting aside the thoughts about what, exactly, that says about himself, Koz circles the base of it and explores, trying to see it as clearly as he's seen the rest of Jack. 

It's slender, short; when Koz wraps his fingers around it, he encloses it almost entirely. He strokes his thumb over the tip, making Jack groan most delightfully. 

“Please,” Jack begs. “ _Do_ something.”

“I'm going to do all sorts of things,” he promises, and leans in to lick the tip of Jack's cock. It makes both of them moan. It's so _cold_ , even colder than the rest of him, just as Koz's own cock is hot when he squeezes it through his jeans. His desire spikes like a mountain range and he takes the tip of it in his mouth, smiling at Jack's muffled whimpering. One hand stays at the base of Jack's cock, the other reaches around to the soft curve of his ass. Koz slides his lips down Jack's shaft, marvelling at the strangeness of the temperature, delighting in all of the many wonderful noises Jack can make. 

Koz has always been an expert in deep-throating – he had a lot of experience back in his youth – so he gets to work, fingers digging into Jack's ass-cheek as he takes him deeper and deeper. When his lips touch his fingers that are still wrapped around the base of Jack's cock, he hears a sound that's almost a sob. 

“So _hot_ ,” Jack whispers, and Koz pulls back. 

“And good?” He asks, just to be sure. Since he's never blown a ghost before, it's best to check.

“ _Really_ good,” Jack says, voice breaking, and his cold fingers tangle in Koz's hair. “Don't stop.”

“Whatever you say,” Koz says, and gets back to work. Licking his lips, he takes all of Jack's cock in his mouth in one slow slide. He loves doing this, he always has, especially to someone who's as appreciative as Jack seems to be. Pulling back he thrusts his mouth down onto Jack again, and again, and those cold fingers in his hair tighten almost painfully as his whimpers fill the room. 

It doesn't take long at all for Jack's whimpers to become desperate moans, and from the sound of them and the taste of precome on his tongue, Koz knows it won't be long now. His own cock throbs in his jeans and he squeezes it, a promise of _soon_ -

And then Jack's cry rips through the air as he comes, his hips jerking forward into Koz's mouth. 

Koz would think him rude if he wasn't so fucking turned on by Jack thrusting haphazardly into his mouth, fingers in his hair holding him in place. Jack's thrusts come to a stop but he doesn't let go, not straight away. His breathing is ragged, hitching, and Koz can feel how badly he is shaking. It doesn't take much effort to disentangle himself and lick at Jack's softening cock, cleaning up the last of his come. It tastes strangely normal. The temperature of his cock has changed, Koz realises, a prickle of strangeness sweeping over his skin. It's been warmed up by his mouth.

It's a very odd thought to have – the latest in a long series – but considering how damned horny he is, it's a surprise he has any coherent thoughts at all. But Jack is still shaking, overwhelmed, so Koz takes his hand, pulls him back to the sofa.

“It's alright,” he tells Jack, and holds him as he hides his face against his neck. It's cold-water damp – tears? “It's alright, Jack,” he says again, and feels Jack nod. 

“Better than alright,” he mumbles, and gives a slightly broken laugh. “I've never – I've never felt anything like that before.”

“I'll take that as a compliment.”

Slowly Jack stops shaking, calms, and then startles the hell out of Koz by grabbing his cock. 

“Jack!” The hand pulls away and Jack's halfway through an apology when Koz grabs the hand and puts it back where it was. “No, it's good. I was just surprised.”

Jack's fingers stroke Koz's cock, feeling for the outline of it – exploring, just as Koz did. His fingers are still cold, and a pleasant shiver winds up Koz's spine. Koz sucks in a breath as Jack reaches for his zipper. How would Jack look right now? Nervous? Koz thinks so. Biting his lip; cheeks pink. Gorgeous. 

As he pulls Koz's cock out, Jack gives a breathy laugh. 

“You- you're kinda big.”

Koz smirks, and then gasps as ice-cold fingers circle his cock, slowly stroking him. It's like every single one of his nerve endings is set alight and he damn well nearly comes right there and then. 

_Fuck_ , Koz thinks, and that's as far as he gets, because Jack's touch, light and hesitant as it is, feels _incredible_. Koz leans back against the cushions, breathing hard. One hand clutches the arm of the sofa, the other wraps around Jack's, guiding it. 

“Like this,” he whispers. “Tighter. And - _fuck_ yes – faster.”

He slots his fingers between Jack's so that his own hot fingers are interlaced with Jack's icy ones and the sensation is too much. He bites down on his bottom lip, trying to stay in control, but his body is shaking – it knows he's already lost. He's unravelling, chest heaving as he tries to get enough air in around the pleasure that's building and filling him, more and more with each stroke, each moment. It's too _much_ , god, _Jack_ -

The orgasm takes him by surprise, like a punch to the back of the head and almost as intense. He doesn't cry out – he can't, he doesn't have the breath for it. He shatters into a hundred sparkling, shivering pieces and slowly, slowly coalesces into himself, still shaking and breathless. Even if he could breathe, he couldn't speak – and even if he could, he has no words for it. 

“Jack,” is all he manages, and pulls him tightly into his arms. Jack holds him back in a circle of cool arms; his cold cheek against Koz's neck is a welcome relief. The sunburst intensity fades, leaving them lounging in post-orgasm bliss in each other's arms.

_I just had sex with a ghost,_ Koz thinks.

“That was awesome,” Jack says, and Koz grins. 

“Yes,” he agrees, and searches for Jack's lips so that he can kiss them, for a very long time. 

===

Seraphina stays with her mother most weekends but Koz can never quite stop fretting. Especially this  time, since it's for four days; he's going to New York to meet his editor, and of course he trusts Karen to look after her, and Jack's already said he'll check up in her but _still_.

"So Sera mentioned that you're seeing someone," Karen says, grinning up at him as she carries Seraphina's sparkly black bag down the stairs .

"Did she?" Koz croaks, filled with horror at the thought that Seraphina has noticed something between him and Jack, and that she _told Karen_.

"I recognise that tone. You're not going to tell me a thing, are you?"

Koz has no idea why his ex-wife is so fascinated with his love life and he glares at her. "I'm not sure what it has to do with you."

Her only response is to roll her eyes at him but she grins too, and Koz is fairly sure that he's not heard the last of this.

As they step outside, he throws a customary glare at Karen's new husband and gets to one knee to pull Seraphina into a hug.

"You be good, alright?"

"I'm always good," she says, and Koz smiles; she's as angelic as her name - _most_ of the time. "Will you bring me a present from New York?"

"Of course." He pulls a list out of his pocket. "Every shade of blue M&M. A Hello Kitty pencil. A box of your favourite cupcakes and lots of photographs. I forget anything?"

"Nope." She hugs him this time and then Karen takes her hand. 

"Come on, sweet thing, we want to get to the zoo before lunch."

Seraphina nods solemnly and waves at Koz. "Goodbye Daddy. I love you."

Koz's heart lurches in his chest like someone's trying to pull it out with a rusty fish hook. "I love you too."

Koz goes back upstairs to pack his bag, and the loft seems so empty.

It isn't, though. 

As he's sitting on the sofa, checking that his flight is due to be in time, Koz feels a touch on the back of his neck, light and cold. It trails around to stroke over his cheek and lips.

"Jack," he murmurs. He can't see anything but who else would it be?

"Koz," Jack replies, humour threaded in his voice. There's a gentle touch of ghostly lips against his own and Koz's breath hitches.

"I wish I could see you," he murmurs.

"What - you need to see me or you're going to stop believing in me?"

"Of course not," Koz says, hearing the hitch of panic behind Jack's joke. "I'd just like to see you. That's all."

"Maybe we can figure something out," Jack says, and the zipper of Koz's cardigan slides down of its own accord. It's been three weeks since they first - did whatever the hell this is - and it still makes Koz's skin tingle with strangeness. 

"Oh really? And what do you recommend? Maybe a magical pair of sunglasses would do the trick, though I'm sure I don't know where to buy them."

"How about Amazon? You can get all kinds of things on there these days," Jack says, ignoring Koz's sarcasm in favour clambering into his lap.

Koz's mind recoils at the strangeness of the cold weight of someone he can't see – not as much as he used to, just a little – but his body has no such compunction. He reaches hungrily for Jack, seeing with his hands, moving from shoulders to neck to face, running his fingers through soft hair, seeking his lips and then leaning in to kiss them. 

Jack tastes like winter and loss, and it makes Koz's heart ache. He kisses him more, as though if he kisses him enough, he'll be able to see him. As though if he kisses him enough, he'll be able to get rid of the loneliness that is ever present in Jack's voice, hiding behind humour.

When Koz wraps his arms around him tightly, Jack laughs lightly and runs his fingers through Koz's hair.

"Everything okay there?"

"Fine," Koz says, but it isn't. He wants to help Jack so badly, but he doesn't know how. Even if he could figure out a way for Jack to move on and find peace, a strong and selfish part of him doesn't want to let him go. 

They stay like that for long moments until Koz forces himself to untangle them.

"Much as I would love to do this all day, my flight's in two hours."

"I wish I could come with you," Jack says with wistfulness twisting in his voice. His cold hand is wrapped around Koz's as they wall to his bedroom.

They've already had this discussion; Jack is bound to the lake. He can go around the town and the forest on its borders, but no further. 

"I'll bring you a present," Koz promises, standing and going into his bedroom to check for the tenth time that he has everything. 

"I'll see about getting something for you, too," Jack says, and his voice is thoughtful.

Considering his sense of humour, Koz isn't sure whether that's a good thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, you're all shocked at the update xD I said I'd have it finished before Halloween, and so I shall. Two parts to go! Thanks for all the kudos and comments, you give me life <3


	3. Chapter 3

Four days of meetings. Four _long_ days. His editor made him meet people - not just meet them but he had to be _nice_ to them. It was exhausting.

So by the time he gets home he wants to sleep for days. He considers going over to Karen's to say hello to Seraphina but she'll be in bed already and he doesn't want to wake her.

Propping his case up against the desk, he notices a necklace - a locket - next to his notepad. Bronze, intricate, old; it's unlike anything he owns.

With a yawn he picks it up. The clasp doesn't work properly, and his nails are too short to pry it open. He wonders if it holds a picture.

"Jack?"

"I'm in the living room."

"Did you leave a locket on my-" In the doorway of the living room he jerks to a stop.

Leaning against the sofa is a young man, and Koz's first panicked thought is of an intruder.

But he _recognises_ him, although doesn't look quite like his posthumous portrait.

He's pale and - well, ghostly. White hair, blue eyes. Waist as slim as Koz's hands have told him, hands as long and willowy.

It's Jack. 

Jack is beautiful.

And Koz can _see_ him.

"What- _How_ -"

"The locket," Jack says, pointing at it. "It's an heirloom. A great-great-etcetera niece always seemed to sense me when she wore it - which is why she stopped wearing it. And I figured if it made her more sensitive, it could do the same to you. Looks like I was right."

"So what you're saying is that you've implicated me in a burglary," Koz says faintly and steps forward to touch Jack's cheek.

For the first time he can see Jack's reaction to his touch; the way he smiles, the way his eyes flutter shut. It makes his throat feel tight and he's filled with a deep need to make sure that Jack always has reason to smile.

He's also filled with the deep need to see what Jack looks like in the throes of orgasm.

Putting the locket around his neck so that he has both hands free, Koz begins to explore Jack's body.

It's a little like that first time, when he could feel the roughspun cotton shirt and waistcoat, only this time all of his guesses are confirmed. He slides off the waistcoat and his fingers undo the simple buttons of his shirt and pulls it open. He strokes Jack's cold skin from sternum to navel, where a v of dark hair peeks out from beneath his trousers.

Koz looks up at Jack to see his eyes glazed, his mouth slightly open. Jack is the most attractive thing Koz has ever seen. 

"You're gorgeous," he murmurs, touching Jack's cheek. "Even more than the portrait."

Jack shakes his head and gives a weak grin. "Maybe that locket just shows you my good side."

"I don't think you have a bad side," Koz says, because he can be a sap sometimes, and kisses him.

Jack's arms go around his neck and he melts into the kiss, but Koz keeps pulling back to look at him. He can't get enough of it. The faint smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks. The way his eyebrows and lashes are dark, but his hair looks like wrought silver. 

Jack grins and grabs his chin. "Stop getting distracted."

"I can't _help_ it. This is the first time I've seen my-" Koz breaks off before he can say – whatever he might say. Both of them stare at each other, wondering what the next words might have been. "Live-in ghost," Koz finishes lamely.

"Oh come on, is that all I am to you?" Jack asks, his voice playful, but there's hurt behind his eyes and Koz curses himself. He's known Jack for long enough now to know how fragile he can be.

"You're a lot more than that, and you know it. But what the bloody hell do I call you?"

"Boyfriend?" Jack suggests. "Ghost boyfriend?"

"Ghost boyfriend," Koz mutters dimly and shakes his head. What, exactly, has he gotten himself into again?

"Beloved; partner; man of your dreams," Jack continues, ticking them off on his fingers. "One true love, soulmate-"

"Boyfriend is fine," Koz snaps, rolling his eyes. "If you _insist_ on putting a label on it."

Jack just grins at him, but the depth of gratitude behind the mischief hurts Koz. Even a joking, begrudging thing like that can make him so happy.

"So, now that you can see me... What do you want to do to me?"

"I want to see what you look like when you come," Koz says, and grins at Jack's wide eyes. The surprise doesn't last long, though, and Jack counters with a grin of his own. 

"Why don't you find out?" 

He pushes Koz to the sofa but stays standing. He starts to strip, shrugging out of his shirt and reaching for his belt when he notices the way that Koz is looking at him - like this is the best thing Koz has ever seen, because it really might be. A gorgeous, ethereal teenager undressing for him? It's definitely in the top five. Especially when Jack starts to take it slowly, unbuckling his belt, running his hands over his own torso, making it a striptease. God knows where he picked this up from - Koz fears checking his Netflix recently watched list – but _fuck_ it's hot. Really, really hot. Jack pulls off the belt and drops it to the floor, then squeezes his own cock.

"Fuck," Koz says, the word escaping from his lips, and then he smirks at Jack, trying to hide the fact that he is so turned on right now that he half wants to drop to his knees and worship him. Instead he gestures for Jack to continue.

"Why don't you touch yourself as you watch," Jack suggests, because he can be terribly naughty sometimes.

"If you insist." Koz unzips and pulls himself out, still trying not to seem too desperate, and starts to stroke himself, pleasure jangling in him from the contact and from the show Jack's giving him. Jack watches for a moment, lips parted, and it takes a lot of effort for Koz not to suggest that he come over here and wrap them around his cock. 

Jack pulls himself together and returns to his stripping, slowly tugging his trousers open. He pulls his cock out and spends a moment stroking himself, squeezing his balls and biting down on his lip. It looks just as Koz imagined it, short and slender, his balls tight. His cock, like the rest of him, looks like it's carved from marble. As Koz watches, very closely, Jack shimmies out of the trousers and kicks them aside. He licks his lips, nervousness dancing in his eyes, as Koz looks upon his naked body for the first time.

"Like what you see?"

"Very much," Koz says, and crooks a finger at him. Jack comes to him and Koz pulls him down to straddle him. The coldness makes Koz shiver, and not in a bad way. Jack shifts to get comfortable and their cocks bump together. The pleasure is like a static shock. Jack gasps, and so does Koz. It's a _very_ interesting sensation. 

Koz looks down and so does Jack, giving something like a breathless whimper. It's a lovely image; Jack is so pale he almost glows, and there's something insubstantial about him that makes Koz's own cock – much longer and larger – seem somehow more real. The juxtaposition reminds him of what Jack is, but Koz finds he doesn't care too much other than feeling the illicit thrill of having a ghost straddle him. 

Well, if _that_ gives him an illicit thrill, maybe he should turn it up a notch. 

Koz curls his hands around both of their cocks, pressing them together. Jack moans long and Koz can feel his shudder. He looks up and sees Jack's eyes closed, his head tipped back slightly. With his spare hand Koz reaches up to touch Jack's silver-white hair. It's soft, and cold as a frost-ferned window. 

“Everything alright, Jack?”

“Oh, yeah,” Jack breathes, and his eyes flutter open. “You're just so _hot_.”

“Thank you,” Koz says with what he knows is a wicked grin, and starts to stroke both of them. “This feels good for you?”

“Unf. Yeah. Really good. You?”

“Really good,” Koz says, because it does. Jack's cock is a stripe of cold along his own and it feels _incredible_. Even more interesting is the way Jack reacts: his eyes flutter shut again, he bites his lip, grabs Koz's shoulders. He's trying to stay quiet, choked off moans and swallowed groans, so Koz kisses him. “You don't have to be quiet. It's just the two of us. Let me hear you, Jack.”

And Jack does get louder, but Koz isn't sure it's because of his command. He's unravelling in front of Koz, whimpering and gasping, chest heaving as he breathes hard and heavy. Koz is fascinated with everything, with the little lift of Jack's eyebrows, the way his mouth opens and closes wordlessly. He wants pictures of it, video, goddamn oil paintings. He wants this moment to last forever, but he also wants Jack to come, wants to come himself. There'll be other times and lots and lots of other ways to bring Jack to the brink of orgasm, and Koz wants to explore all of them. For now, it's time to bring this through to it's grand, awesome finale.

“Come for me, Jack,” Koz says, and Jack's eyes fly open, wide and blue and beautiful. 

“Y-yes,” Jack says, and that's about as far as he gets before he can't manage words any more. His fingers dig into Koz's shoulders and he's so _close_. Koz tightens his grip, quickens his pace, watches as the last few splinters of Jack's control fracture and shatter, and Koz feels kind of the same way, he's not sure how much longer he can last, but Jack has to come first, he has to- 

And then Jack is coming over both of them with a long, low moan, thrusting into Koz's hand, back arching as his icy come splatters both of their bellies. 

Fuck, but Jack looks beautiful when he comes, even more beautiful than Koz ever imagined, and he's cold and he's shivering, shivering for Koz, and his slowly-softening dick is still so cold against Koz's and _fuck_ -

Koz comes with a yell, yanked over the edge without warning. It's almost violent and he might be embarrassed by all this whimpering if he didn't kind of feel like he was drowning, the orgasm tearing through him with barbed edges. It's good but it's just so _intense_ , fuck, _fuck_. But Jack – still shaking and breathless himself – holds him tight, holds him together, kisses his cheeks, his lips, his neck. 

_Fuck,_ Koz thinks, his brain little more than an explosion of sparks, not capable of higher functions just yet. _Fuck_. 

He lets Jack kiss him, sweet and hesitant, and the kisses warm Koz despite the coldness of his lips. They pull his pieces back together and slowly he stops shaking. He responds to the kisses, sliding his arms around Jack's cold waist. He comes back down to earth smiling, and opens his eyes to remind himself of just how lovely Jack is. 

They look at each other, the silence broken only by their ragged breathing, slowly evening out. 

“So,” Jack says after a while, when they're only a little breathless. “How _do_ I look when I'm coming?”

“Bloody gorgeous.”

Jack grins at him, a rose quartz blush creeping over his cheeks. “Yeah. Yeah, you too.”

===

Two weeks later, Koz is deeply engrossed in editing an article which should have been with his editor the night before, but somehow a naked Jack in his bed ended up distracting him. So he's racing through it now while Jack tells Seraphina a story. She really should be in bed, but Koz just needs to give the document one last run through and then he can send it. 

And... done. 

Sometimes, hitting the _send_ button on an email is the most satisfying thing in the world. 

Closing his laptop, Koz looks up at Jack and Seraphina. The locket is still around his neck, it's a constant now, so he can see both of them. Seraphina is in a nest of bright cushions - some of which Koz is fairly sure aren't his - lying on her front and listening to Jack. Who is reading from a book. _The Worst Witch_ , in fact, one of Seraphina's favourites, and she claps in delight as Jack reads her favourite bit with panache. 

Koz blinks. It's... kind of a surprise to him that Jack can read. He can't say that he's ever paid a whole lot of attention to the early settlers of the United States, but he didn't think that literacy was all that popular a pastime amongst the working classes. 

Leaving the thoughts for later, his turns his attention to the already delayed matter of Seraphina's bedtime. 

“Alright,” Koz says, standing and stretching his aching bones before going over to Seraphina and picking her up. “Bed for you.”

“But I'm not-” A yawn, “-tired.”

“Of course not.”

She changed into her black and grey gingham nightdress and then snuggles under her moon patterned blankets. Since she's already had her story for the night and she's clearly about to fall asleep, Koz switches on the nightlight that casts twinkling constellations all over her room. 

“Goodnight, Seraphina.”

“Goodnight, Papa. I love you.”

Koz smiles down at her. How is it that his daughter is actual perfection? “I love you too,” he says, and hands over her battered plush bunny rabbit. “Sweet dreams,” he says, and kisses her forehead.

She's asleep before he's even left the room. 

Back in the living room, Jack's lying down on the sofa. He deigns to sit up for long enough for Koz to take a seat, and settles back down with his head in Koz's lap. 

"I'm surprised you can read," Koz says without thinking, and then winces when Jack frowns at him. "I just mean, I didn't think literary rates were all that high back when you were alive."

Jack blinks and then sits up, moving to his own half of the sofa, picking up a magazine and very purposefully reading. It's a magazine about typefaces, which is probably the opposite of interesting, but Jack's not going to let that stop him from Making A Point. He glances over the top edge of the page and says, "They weren't. But I'm not an idiot. Over the years, spending time with kids - that included their lessons. When they learnt, I learnt."

"I didn't mean to imply that you're an idiot," Koz says, and pulls Jack into his lap. Jack lets the magazine fall from his fingers, the epic battle that is Arial versus Helvetica not enough to keep his attention. "Obviously you're not. And I've already seen that you're a fast learner."

"You are so cheesy," Jack says, and grins. "See? I've picked up modern idioms and everything."

"You're a wonder for the ages, Jack," Koz says and kisses him, because that really is the best way to distract him.

It's kind of fun, too. 

===

It seems that not much information about Jackson Overland has survived the centuries. There's the website about Merryweather Overland, there are a few mentions of him in local history books, but there's nothing else. Koz should know, he's looked everywhere. 

And yes, maybe that skirts the line with stalking, but look, the primary source isn't exactly fond of talking about himself. Maybe it's because thinking about his life reminds him of everything and everyone he's lost. But any questions are diverted with a quip or a kiss - and yes, maybe Koz lets himself be distracted by those.

Anyway, the point is that Koz knows very little about Jack's past but he _has_ found out Jack's birthday. 

Which is today. 

And he's baking him a cake.

Is that a weird thing to do for your ghostly sort-of-boyfriend?

_Yes, of course it is,_ insists Koz's struggling and much-ignored common sense. Having a ghostly sort-of-boyfriend is weird and therefore so is everything to do with it.

Weird or not, it's happening. Jack eats, very occasionally - mostly stealing a chip or licking the frosting from Koz's fingers (Koz doesn't really like to think about what happens to the food). And who knows when Jack last celebrated a birthday? So Koz is making him a cake.

More precisely he's made the cake and is waiting for it to cool before decorating it. There are a few decorations, a card from him and a handmade one from Seraphina, and a couple of presents. There are even candles for the cake, though only six – Koz doesn't think he'll manage to fit three hundred-plus on the eight-inch cake. There's a banner on the wall and a special birthday tablecloth. They're doing this thing properly. 

Seraphina is in on it too, of course. She's keeping him busy in the living room learning Spanish with a Dora the Explorer marathon, and as soon as they get to the end of the first DVD she's bringing Jack in here. Koz checks his watch: he's got twenty minutes.

Deciding that the cake's cool enough he smothers it with buttercream, covers the whole thing in a battalion of sprinkles, and there, it's done. Another check of his watch shows five minutes to go so he puts the cake on the cake stand and sets it on the table. The gifts and cards go next to it, and Koz's doubts about whether this is a good idea or not come rushing in just as his watch beeps that time is up.

Right on time, there's Seraphina's dainty knock, and Jack's laughter - _it's your kitchen Sera, no need to knock_ and in they come-

Jack blinks at the cake, at the presents, confusion clear on his face. Seraphina throws her arms around his waist.

"Happy birthday, Jack!"

"Birthday...?" He hugs her but he continues to stare at the cake. "You- Wait. You – you did this- This is for me?"

"We thought it would be nice," Koz says softly, Jack's uncertainty worrying him. "Since you probably haven't had too many birthday parties."

"No." Jack hugs Seraphina even tighter. "No, I - I'd almost forgotten... And you - you found out. And you did all of this for me?"

"Of course, Jack." There appears to be tears in Jack's eyes now and Koz's heart lurches. Damn it, has he just made a huge fucking mistake? There could be all kinds of awful memories related to his birthday, there must be a _reason_ Jack never talks about it. 

Koz goes over to Jack, meaning to put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he gets pulled into a hug. Jack sniffles on his chest, hiccuping sobs that make Seraphina look up at him with worry, and make Koz start to berate himself.

But then Jack says, muffled, "No-one's ever done anything like this for me. I - I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything," Koz says, his shoulders sagging with relief that Jack is not angry or upset with him, and then frowns because what the hell, how many years has Jack gone without something so simple as a birthday party?

Silently promising to make a bigger deal of it next year, every year, Koz guides Jack over to the table to sit down.

"Are you sad, Jack?" Seraphina asks, and he shakes his head, gives her a watery grin. And then he hugs her, and kisses Koz. 

“Nope. In fact, I've never been happier,” he says, and Koz can't say he disagrees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your support, guys! I'm so happy you still like it :3 So here's a ghost story on Halloween!


End file.
